Image courtesy of nytimes.com By Emma Sewell
Staff Writer One of the most controversial toys to this day is getting a HUGE makeover. That’s right, we’re talking about Barbie. Mattel has been spending years fighting Barbie’s unrealistic proportions of an impossibly tall, thin and curvaceous woman as they try to bring the brand back in order to fit modern expectations. “This is about drawing a wider demographic that has turned away from Barbie back to Barbie.” said Jim Silver, the editor of TTPM, a toy reviewer site. For the most part, it looks like it’s working. Along with the Hello Barbie, Mattel is updating their once popular doll brand to appeal to more girls, giving the new Barbies more variety. They are currently available to order on Barbie.com and will start hitting major retailers such as Target and Toys ‘R’ Us on March 1st. Can adding new hairstyles, skin tones, and body types really help Mattel back to the top along with Lego, Disney, Hasbro, and other famous brands? "Kids are just bombarded with images that are really just not true to nature," Evelyn Mazzocco, senior vice president and global general manager of Barbie says. "It can potentially damage your self-esteem or limit your world view." Mazzocco adds that it's important for young boys to understand women's bodies come in all shapes and sizes because "they grow up expecting girls' bodies to look a certain way." Mr. Dickson has been pushing Mattel’s marketing campaign more towards Barbie’s career ambitions than her body image. It’s inspiring to see Mattel take steps towards a better company. It seems like years since Barbie has tried new looks. Of course, why haven’t we seen Ken try something new then? Kimberly Culmone, VP of Barbie design, says Ken's body has already had some minor changes over the years, including a beard-growing Shaving Fun Ken phase. "We're looking at ethnic diversity for Ken dolls, and potentially (his) body," Culmone said on the phone. "This is a time at Mattel where we're very open to rapid change." I’m glad that this brand will be better represented in the future. Hopefully, Barbie, Ken, and all of their friends will once again become popular. Comments are closed.
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October 2018
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